The brother of a Missouri doctor who was found shot dead in an Ozarks lake this week has claimed he was the victim of a mysterious kidnapping attempt.
Dr John Forsyth, 49, was found dead of a gunshot wound in Beaver Lake in northeast Arkansas on Tuesday, nine days after he was last seen alive leaving work in a hospital in Cassville, Missouri, police said.
In a terse statement, the Benton County Sheriff’s Department did not specify where the gunshot wound was on Forsyth’s body, or whether it appeared to be self-inflicted, leaving many questions unanswered in the ‘affair.
Forsyth, a father of eight, had just divorced his wife on May 11 and proposed to his new fiancée three days before he was last seen alive on May 21.
In an unusual twist, Forsyth’s brother Richard now claims that just over a year ago the doctor was kidnapped and threatened by unidentified individuals.
Dr John Forsyth, 49, was found dead of a gunshot wound in Beaver Lake in northeast Arkansas on Tuesday, nine days after he was last seen alive leaving work in a hospital in Missouri.
Forsyth’s body was discovered about 20 miles from the town where he was last seen alive and where his car was found unlocked and abandoned.
Richard, who founded crypto company OnFo with his brother, said Fox News Digital that in February 2022, John Forsyth was kidnapped and later released, but never filed a complaint with the police.
‘It was cold. It was attached to the zipper. He was made to feel very unsafe and driven with people to a bridge and threatened,’ Richard told the outlet.
“He did not file a complaint with the police as he believed he was in permanent danger,” the brother added.
Attempts to reach Richard on Wednesday afternoon for further details were unsuccessful and DailyMail.com was unable to independently verify his claims about the kidnapping.
Messages left with the Benton County Sheriff’s Office and the Missouri State Highway Patrol were not immediately returned.
Authorities said Wednesday they are still investigating what happened in the week between Forsyth’s disappearance and the discovery of his body.
No further information would be immediately available, authorities said.
A kayaker found Forsyth’s body Tuesday afternoon in Beaver Lake, a large reservoir in Arkansas, the Benton County Sheriff’s Office said.
Forsyth was last seen alive early on May 21 as he left Mercy Cassville Hospital, where he worked in the emergency room. He was reported missing later the same day
The doctor’s unlocked car was found at this dump near a park in Cassville, the town in the Missouri Ozarks where he worked, along with his wallet, two phones, a laptop and other items inside.
A kayaker found Forsyth’s body Tuesday afternoon near this area of Beaver Lake, a large reservoir in Arkansas, the Benton County Sheriff’s Office said.
The body was found near the shore opposite the Lost Bridge South area of Beaver Lake, about 20 miles south of Cassville, police said.
Forsyth was last seen alive early on May 21 as he left Mercy Cassville Hospital, where he worked in the emergency room. He was reported missing later the same day when he failed to show up for a shift.
The doctor’s unlocked car was found near a water park in Cassville, the town in Missouri’s Ozarks where he worked, along with his wallet, two phones, a laptop and other items inside, said his brother Richard Forsyth in an interview with the Associated Press.
Police told the family there were no signs of foul play around the car, a black Infiniti sedan.
Forsyth stayed in a luxury motorhome near the hospital when on call, and a search of the motorhome revealed it was unlocked, with two cellphones left inside, which Richard told the Daily Beast was “very unusual”.
“It doesn’t look like a person who left with a plan,” Richard said on Tuesday, ahead of the discovery of his brother’s body.
Richard also told the outlet that security footage showed his brother’s Infiniti entering the water park, when a white SUV drove up and parked near it.
‘He leaves a few minutes later and [John] is seen walking around maybe 10 to 15 minutes after that,’ Richard said, according to cops. “And then he walks away from his car.”
Dr John Forsyth (pictured), who disappeared in Missouri just three days after proposing to his girlfriend, has been found dead in Arkansas
The last person to hear of John (pictured), who launched a cryptocurrency with his brother, was said to be his fiancée
After the doctor’s abandoned vehicle was discovered, multiple law enforcement agencies searched a nine-mile radius around the water park using people, dogs and drones.
Forsyth’s family also created a Facebook page in a desperate search for information.
“My brother has been missing for a week,” his sister, Tiffany Andelin, wrote on Monday. “I’m grieving, I’m scared, and I feel like the world has fallen into pure chaos.”
The last known person who communicated with John Forsyth was the woman he had recently become engaged to, who texted him around 7 a.m. on May 21, his brother told the AP.
The last time the two brothers met in person was over dinner on Wednesday, May 17.
“I told him that was the happiest I’ve seen him in a long time. Her divorce was final on May 11 and I think that has given her energy for the future,’ Richard Forsyth said.
John Forsyth had worked at Mercy Hospital for about 15 years, his brother said, describing him as a doting dad, part-time math nerd and dedicated doctor.
“He really cared about his patients,” said Richard Forsyth. “And he loved his children.”
